Vancouver police say they are disappointed after social media posts showed downtown streets crowded with party-goers on Halloween night, apparently flouting COVID-19 safety protocols.Spokesman Const. Jason Doucette says it wasn't possible to try to disperse the alcohol-fuelled crowd or issue tickets due to a number of factors.He says the number of people in downtown grew larger than expected and additional resources were brought in from around the city.Doucette says police made a number of arrests for minor offences, such as causing a disturbance, but there were no reported injuries.He says p

The B.C. government says it will increase surveillance this weekend as an order limiting the number of people who can visit a home is in effect because of COVID-19. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced this week that gatherings are now limited to people in an immediate household, plus their so-called ``safe six''' guests. In a joint statement, Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix are reminding people to make the Halloween weekend safe for everyone by maintaining safe physical distances from one another. They say this is also not the time for large gatherings in homes as the nu

The pace of economic growth in Canada slowed in August as real gross domestic product grew 1.2 per cent in the month, Statistics Canada said Friday. The rise compared with a revised 3.1 per cent gain in July, up from its initial reading for the month of 3.0 per cent. The report came as the agency also released a preliminary estimate for a gain of 0.7 per cent in September to bring growth in the third quarter to about 10 per cent. Economists on average had expected an increase of 0.9 per cent for August, according to financial data firm Refinitiv. TD Bank senior economist Sri Thanabalasingam

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the latest death from COVID-19 shows even small social gatherings can be dangerous. Dr. Henry says an 80 year old woman in the Fraser Health region has died after contracting the virus at a small birthday party where a guest did not know they had the virus. She is also reporting 234 new cases of COVID-19 today, pushing the total past 14,000. The province's active caseload also reached a new record high of 2,344. The number of people in hospital decreased by one, to 84, with 24 patients in intensive care or critical care units. Dr. Henry says

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is condemning what he is calling a deadly terrorist attack in the French city of Nice.French authorities say an attacker armed with a knife killed three people at a church in the Mediterranean city Thursday, prompting the country to raise its security alert status to the highest level.Trudeau says in a Twitter post that Canada stands in solidarity with the French people and denounces the attack as unjustifiable, adding his thoughts are with the loved ones of the victims.Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet called on Trudeau to issue a strong condemnati

Public health officials have declared another outbreak of COVID-19 at a seniors assisted-living facility in B.C., while case counts keep climbing. A news release Wednesday says the latest outbreak in the facility in Surrey brings the total number of long-term care or assisted-living sites in the province with active COVID-19 outbreaks to 21. B.C. health officials also say there has been a new community outbreak at the Okanagan Men's Centre, a counselling and addiction treatment centre. B.C. health officials are asking people to refrain from holding private parties and gatherings this Hallowee

Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says it will take quite some time for the economy to fully recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.In its latest economic outlook, the bank says a rapid expansion as the Canadian and global economies re-opened has given way to slower growth.It says Canada's economy won't fully recover what was lost to COVID-19 until 2022 and Macklem says the the path will be uneven over time and across sectors.The economy is forecast to contract by 5.7 per cent this year but grow by 4.2 per cent next year and 3.7 per cent in 2022.The outlook was issued as the bank kept its over

Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet is calling on the government to apologize for legislation that remains controversial 50 years after its passage during the October Crisis in Quebec. In October 1970, the Liberal government under then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau decided to suspend civil liberties by invoking the War Measures Act in response to the kidnapping of a Quebec cabinet minister and a British diplomat by members of the militant FLQ separatist group.The legislation, passed at the request of the Quebec premier and Montreal's mayor, saw soldiers patrolling the streets as auth

The province reported 217 new COVID-19 cases today for a total of 13,588, but no new deaths. With Halloween around the corner, officials in the Fraser Health region are urging people not to hold private parties this weekend to help curb the spread of COVID-19. Doctor Elizabeth Brodkin, chief medical health officer for the region, says it's fine to take children trick-or-treating in a safe way but people shouldn't be gathering in homes. Fraser Health has reported 7,674 cases since the start of the pandemic with most of the infections in people aged 20 to 29.